The next morning, in the human living quarters near the Dragon Tomb, deep within the Ten Thousand Dragons Nest Secret Realm.
David slept straight through until noon.
The sun was already well overhead by the time he finally stirred, sitting up slowly and rolling his shoulders with a long, tired stretch.
"Ugh~ I've finally sorted out that time difference."
It made sense that he was exhausted. He had entered the Secret Realm in the afternoon back in the real world, but it had been early morning inside at the time. He had then stayed until night — the equivalent of pulling an all-nighter. The sleep had been well earned.
The Dragon Festival was beginning today, but the morning session was reserved for the young Trainers who had qualified to choose their Dragon-type Pokémon. David had already secured Bagon the day before, so there was no reason for him to be part of that crowd. He tidied up at a relaxed pace and made his way toward the Dragon Tomb.
He could afford to skip the morning selection. Missing the Dragon Festival itself, though, was another matter entirely.
He arrived at the venue without much trouble. It was, he realized, his first time setting foot in this part of the grounds — even if the Dragon Tomb technically fell under his family's territory.
The ceremony was being held in a vast plaza on the outer edge of the Dragon Tomb.
It was an old place. The architecture and the wear worked into every stone surface told of a history stretching back at least eight hundred years. The plaza itself was enormous — spacious enough to hold tens of thousands of people without feeling cramped.
"This really is something else..."
David looked out across the open space and muttered quietly to himself.
Eight hundred years ago, during the ancient Cloudspire era, raising a structure like this inside a Secret Realm would have been an undertaking on par with building the legendary Sky Pillar that rose above the clouds outside. Someone had put extraordinary effort into this place.
The festival had not yet officially begun, but the plaza was already filling up. Trainers gathered in small clusters across the open ground, most of them fresh from the morning's Pokémon selection.
David slipped into the crowd without drawing much attention. A few people glanced his way — probably because he had not released any Pokémon — but no one paid him any particular notice. He moved through the groups slowly, taking his time to look around.
The mood varied from person to person. A handful of Trainers stood with noticeably pleased expressions, Dratini or Gible at their sides — clearly among the few who had earned the recognition of a pseudo-legendary hatchling. Others looked a little strained, their Pokémon clearly not what they had been hoping for. Most people, though, wore expressions somewhere in between — neither thrilled nor disappointed.
Very few faces looked familiar to David. He had been scanning the crowd out of habit more than expectation, but after a moment, one face actually caught his eye.
"Is that... Josiah? From Wyvern Academy?"
He looked closer. In addition to the Charmander and Jangmo-o Josiah had previously, there was now an Axew at his side.
It was not unusual. Many Trainers at the Dragon Festival had already caught Dragon-type Pokémon before arriving. The event itself allowed them to release those Pokémon here, letting them benefit from the festival's effects. The entry requirement was simply having a Pokémon with Dragon bloodline — it did not have to be a Dragon-type itself. That was why Josiah's Charmeleon qualified without issue.
Not bad luck at all, David thought, eyeing the Axew.
Setting aside the small number of Trainers who had landed pseudo-legendary hatchlings, Axew was still a solid catch.
Though thinking about it did leave a slightly hollow feeling. Josiah had come in with two Pokémon and walked out with a third, all three of which could participate in or benefit from the Dragon Festival. David, meanwhile, had only Bagon. Lucario had no Dragon bloodline to speak of — the only distant connection was that it could learn Dragon Pulse through its mastery of Aura, which barely counted. Kirlia and Zorua had no connection at all.
One is one, he told himself. That's fine.
He was still turning that thought over when a few familiar voices cut through the background noise and pulled him back to the present.
"David!"
"David, over here!"
He looked up. Not far off, Miles and the others were waving at him. Even Luke — who had mentioned needing to help out at his family's company during the break — was there. And so was Emma, who had been somewhere in the Hoenn region after the holidays ended and had apparently only just arrived.
"You all made it."
David was not really surprised. With their family backgrounds, getting an invitation to the Dragon Festival was straightforward — especially given how long their families had been connected to his. He had been scanning the plaza for them when he first arrived. Still, he walked over and joined them.
What he had not expected was the fourth person who had come with them.
Standing alongside Emma, Miles, and Luke was Willow — the class representative, who had always been on good terms with David and the rest of the group.
That gave David a moment's pause. As far as he could recall, Willow came from a commoner Trainer background. Her family had no history of Professional Trainers before her. She would not have had access to an invitation through resource exchange or family connections.
A special invitation, then? But from whom?
Emma seemed to read the question on his face. She stepped close and explained in a low voice.
"Willow was noticed by a senior member of the Alliance a while back. She was taken on as a disciple. Her teacher is the one who arranged for her to be here."
That cleared things up immediately. It also explained something David had been wondering about for a while — why Willow's Grovyle had awakened Dragon-type bloodline, and where her second Pokémon, the Alolan Vulpix, had come from. A mentor with Alliance connections would account for both.
With the reunions out of the way, David took a proper look at the Pokémon his friends had brought along.
Following close to Emma was a small, fluffy Swablu, the little cloud of cotton drifting contentedly at her heels. Its evolution — Altaria — was famously typed as Dragon and Flying, though it had long since become more associated with Fairy-type strategies. It seemed Emma's family had her on a clear path.
Luke, as David had half-expected, had caught a Duraludon. It had apparently not been easy — Duraludon were rare in the Moore family's Secret Realm, with only a handful of known families in the area, and he had still managed to find one willing to partner with him.
Miles, on the other hand, was a genuine surprise. He had earned the recognition of a pseudo-legendary hatchling. David looked at the round little Gible waddling behind him, then at Miles's equally round build, and decided he probably understood how that had happened.
"Wait — is that..."
David's attention shifted to what Willow was carrying. It was a small fish tank, and inside it swam a Feebas. He recognized it immediately — it was the same purple-red aptitude Feebas he had noticed before, with that distinctive, unusual colouring that set it apart from the rest.
Willow's Grovyle stood at her side as well, as calm and composed as always.
It was quite the coincidence. But then again, glancing between his friends' various catches, it seemed like more than coincidence was at work — under David's eye, practically every Pokémon they had acquired showed that same purple-red level of aptitude. Someone was looking out for them.
They spent a few minutes catching each other up on what had happened over the holiday break. Then, from the far end of the plaza, a deep, resonant toll rang out from the large bell mounted at the front of the stage.
The Dragon Festival was beginning.